Castle of Dreams
by BlueAries03
Summary: Clary is an adventurous girl who lives in a boring town where nothing ever happens, but when young girls who stray into the forest near her village begin to go missing, she's pulled into a dangerous quest - one that transports her to a strange world that exists right below her feet.
1. Prologue

**Here is a new story that I was working on for the past few weeks and decided to post it here. Keep in mind this is only the prologue, and it's a ****_very_**** rough draft. Just know the writing and plot design will ****_hopefully_**** be much better down the line. (one can only hope). Please enjoy! **

Clary woke to her one-eyed cat Hazel pawing at her in a protest of hunger. She didn't want to open her eyes, though. She could see the light behind her closed lids and squeezed them tighter. But, after a few minutes of her cat's nagging, she let herself slip out of the dream world, and into the world of the waking.

Her bed groaned as she sat up and rubbed her bleary eyes, the sudden movement throwing Hazel from the bed with a disconcerted yowl.

"Sorry, Haze." The tabby gave her owner a haughty sniff and strutted off, expecting to be fed.

Turning her gaze toward the window, Clary could make out the little shapes of houses belonging to the other townsfolk. And if she squinted, she might even see them milling about the market, picking up their groceries.

On her way to the kitchen, she grabbed a light coat from her closet and slid her feet into her mother's favorite pair of bunny slippers. Humming a happy tune, the redhead slipped into her usual morning habits. She grabbed the carton of eggs from the fridge and placed them onto the marble countertop.

Today was the day for pancakes, she decided. And that's just what she did.

After a half-hour of mixing ingredients and pouring batter onto the griddle, Clary successfully made a batch of about a dozen pancakes. Unfortunately, she had no one to share them with, unless you counted Hazel, who was still pretty salty about the earlier altercation.

She did end up relenting and giving a few pieces to Hazel, who seemed to have forgotten her grudge against Clary, and became her normal happy self again. Luckily, Clary didn't have to do much cleanup and set off on her errands.

The world outside was bustling with activity as she made her way down the street and to the center of town. As her tennis shoe-clad feet slapped the pavement, she made a mental checklist of things she had to get today: food for Hazel, more fruit, some seeds for Grandma's garden-

"Oh, Clary! Where are you going so early?" Her train of thought was interrupted by one of her many neighbors, Mr. Rothschild, who'd poked his head out his window. He'd always been kind to her, if not a little dead-set in his ways, but what could you do?

"To the meadow. Grandma says it's the best spot to collect ingredients."

"You don't make sense, girl," commented Mrs. Rothschild, poking her head beside him.

"Just...don't go near the woods, Clary. A girl has disappeared, again...Gabriel's daughter."

Clary turned around and flashed one of her million-wat smiles. "I won't Mr. Rothschild."

The old man just shook his head. "You young people never listen. Fine, don't listen. Just be careful."

Clary, desperate to get away from the present conversation, quickened her pace, and replied. "I won't Mr. Rothschild."

If she'd stayed long enough to listen, she would've heard Mrs. Rothschild mutter to her husband, "She's too weird and too lonely for someone that young."

Clary believed in monsters and fairytales like all children believe in them. She wanted all of it to be real, but she suspected she was a bit wrong in that sentiment. Just like in every fairytale, her hometown was a bit wrong. Because everything and everyone was happy, they didn't have a care in the world. Which was truly not right.

The only thing that seemed to remain constant was her grandmother and her stories. Every night before going to bed, Clary's grandmother would tell her a story. They couldn't be found in any book or play or movie, but they felt so real. So real that Clary felt like she was there when her grandmother told these stories.

Almost as though her grandmother had lived through these stories herself.

"_This place is the borest." Clary swiped her charcoal in a diagonal line across her sketchbook, not having any inspiration whatsoever. _

"_Most boring! Grammar, Clary." Her grandmother called from the opposite side of the room, a ball of yarn resting in her lap and knitting needles in her hands. _

_Clary looked up from her sketchbook and gave her grandmother a secret smile, as though they were both in on some practical joke. "Sometimes, I like to try out new words." _

_Her grandmother's smile mirrored her own. "They are not new, they are wrong." _

"_They are fun."_

"_The green people take children who only have fun." _

"_I'm eighteen. I am no longer kidnapping material." Clary rolled her eyes. "Besides, being taken would be a great adventure compared to this...boredom."_

_Her grandmother looked up sharply, her knitting forgotten. "Don't say that! The stars might be listening!"_

"_But I didn't say the magic words…"_

"_Clary don't you dare-"_

"_I wish...something interesting would happen to me for a change!" _

Her grandmother was right, because all grandmothers are right. And that day, the stars were listening.


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, I'm back. I hope everyone is doing well and is staying safe from the virus. Please, please, please remember not to touch your face, and continuously wash your hands! I know I'm being a Mother Goose right now, but someone has to. Anyways, please enjoy the next chapter of this story and tell me what you think in the reviews. **

The following day, Clary rode her bike back to the meadow with the intention of collecting more ingredients. Mr. Rothschild had asked her to make a salve of lavender for his bad back. The clear, blue stream beneath her showed her reflection, she hated looking at it longer than she had to, for she looked just like her mother, and that just brought up a plethora of emotions Clary wasn't ready to deal with.

Her hands cupped the river water and she took a long sip, taking the moment to go through her mental checklist of what she'd have to get done that day. Get lavender for Mr. Rothschild, grab seeds for the herb garden, and sketch the trees in the forest. She was planning on making a mural in her living room and needed a reference for the trees.

Reaching into her cloth backpack, she grabbed a small knife and got to work slicing the lavender bushes, grabbing the ones getting the most sunlight, for they were the strongest and most potent for a salve. She moved her hand to wipe the sweat from her brow when she heard a strange noise from not far off.

Pausing her work, she brandished the small knife in her hand like something that could inflict serious harm and tentatively stepped towards the source of the noise.

She wove through groups of trees and down winding dirt trails, with each step she took, the rustling grew louder and louder. She was almost about to give up when the woods opened into a clearing. Clary had to push aside a rather large bush to get a clearer look and what she saw stopped her dead in her tracks.

No less than 100 feet in front of her was a boy around her age. But that wasn't the strange part. It was the fact that he was standing in a rather large body of water with his hand placed over a submerged body. And also the fact that he had green skin.

Clary took a closer look, the body underwater was Gabriel's daughter. She couldn't help the gasp that escaped her and the boy turned towards her. His leonine eyes narrowed at her and his full lips twisted into a frown. "What?"

Caught by surprise, Clary couldn't think of anything to say and just stared at him, a blush heating her cheeks. With a dissatisfied sniff, the boy swirled his hands around the water, creating a spiral. The water itself seemed to wrap around him, and then suddenly he and the girl were gone. Leaving the water still in his wake. As though he hadn't been there in the first place.

She pedaled away so fast on her bike that her legs were practically rubber. _He looked at me, _she thought, _and disappeared! Just like that! _She shook her head, trying to clear the outlandish thoughts from her head.

When she arrived back in her town, she couldn't stop the word from escaping her mouth. "Hey!" she said between pants, "I saw...I saw him...I saw the one who took that girl!"

Her eyes met with the other townspeople, their expressions ones of confusion. "He drowned her in a pond in the forest! He has green skin, and blond hair, and he's quite big and…," she trailed off, not getting any response from them.

The longer she stood there, the more nervous she got. She couldn't handle all their eyes on her. She subconsciously shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Well, Clare," Mr. Rothschild spoke up, his voice rough like sandpaper. "I guess we could go to the guards and you could...this is, you could tell them about whatever you _think_ you saw. But I don't recall anyone missing, sweetheart."

_What!? _Clary thought bewildered, _you told me!_ She didn't let their disbelief stop her, "He's real! I'll prove it to you!" She turned around and hopped back onto her bike, this time with a determination to prove herself, and to get some answers.

As she pedaled away, an older woman of about the age of forty murmured to her friend, "That girl spends too much time alone after her grandmother died." The two women shared a sad look and went about the rest of their day.

By the time she reached the field again, it was already dusk, and the stars were beginning to appear in the sky. It gave the field a beautiful golden glow, almost as beautiful as the boy standing in the middle of it, his long gleaming hair flowing in a disembodied breeze.

Standing next to him was an exquisite brown horse. It's coat shone, the clear marker of it being well-cared-for and it's mane was a deep rich chocolate. Both the boy and his horse were so outlandishly beautiful that they almost hurt Clary's eyes to look at them for too long. _Almost_.

But that didn't stop Clary from doing what she came for. "Hey, you!" she barked, the feeling of her knife in the back pocket of her shorts comforting. The boy's hand reached for the shining sword by his side, and brandished it out in front of him.

"You'll come with me this instant!" she too reached for her weapon and held it out in front of her. Although, his was much larger and deadlier than hers, she didn't back down.

"The girl you saw earlier is fine," his voice was rich and deep, flowing over her senses like a glass of cold water. "Go home. Don't come back to the meadow or I'll take you too."

Clary's expression twisted into one of anger. "No!" She held her knife with more certainty and planted her feet firmly into the soft grasses below. "You'll come with me this instant!"

Instantly, the ground beneath her began to change shape, making her lose her footing. The clear sky above them became windy and full of large, dark clouds. Suddenly, the ground opened up and Clary tumbled through, almost like Alice falling into Wonderland.

And, as soon as it all had started, everything stopped, and Clary landed inside a strange land. It seemed that everything was made up of something different, a hodge-podge of separate things all mashed together. And nothing seemed to work or make sense.

The sky above her was as dark as ink, with not a single star blemishing it. All around her were strange trees as taller than she'd ever seen, their branches reaching in every different direction. Bits and pieces of old relics and statues lay around her, as though a mob had run through and demolished everything.

In front of her, a crystal clear black lake, appearing that way from the sky's reflection. What was strange however, was in the reflection, there were in fact stars. Clary furrowed her brow, confused, where in the world was she?


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey all, I'm back again. Sooner than I thought. The virus has shut down my school and so I'm home alone. This may mean I might be able to post more chapters so yay! Here's chapter 3!**

"You should not have been able to do that," Clary felt a hand on her shoulder. Her breath caught in her throat. Without turning around, she tried to keep the fear out of her voice. "Do what? Fall?" After getting no response from him, she turned around, just in time to see the boy give her a look - a cross between a grimace and a glare.

Before she could react, he scooped her up in his arms, causing them to start spinning, and the blood rushed to her cheeks. The longer he held on to her, the faster they seemed to spin. "Hold on tight." Her stomach coiled into knots and she squeezed her eyes shut. Then, they stopped spinning. Clary opened her eyes, and she was back in the meadow.

"What...was that place?" she said between gasps.

He dropped her from his arm and onto the soft grasses beneath them. "Below."

"Below what?"

The boy's tone became terse. "Go home girl. And don't come back to the meadow." He turned to leave.

She stood up from the ground defiantly. "My mother used to take care of this place. She loved it." Her brows knitted together. "And I come and go as I please."

He looked over his shoulder at her, ruffling his golden hair. "Then, tomorrow, I'll take you."

~.o.0.o.~

Back at her apartment, Clary sat on her windowsill, absentmindedly doodling in her sketchbook. "Hey Grandma, what's Below?"

She bit her lip. "Is it a place where spirits go?" Hazel hopped down from her perch on the table and slunk over to rub affectionately on her calf. "Are you there when you're not here?"

The young girl turned around to look at her progenitor. "Is that where Mom and Dad are?"

"No, Love," came her grandmother's soft reply.

Clary turned back to her sketching with an excited flick of her hand, "Then it's unexplored land. An adventure."

~.o.0.o.~

The next morning, Clary pedaled on her bike with more fervor than the day prior, determined to find that boy and demand that he give back those taken girls. Personally she was angry with the townspeople for not caring more about these missing girls. _No one will believe me, so no one will help._

Once at the meadow, she came upon a circle of rocks covered in strange runic symbols. Is it a faerie circle? She took a step closer to get a better look and the ground caved in on itself, her foot slipped and Clary fell through, down to Below.

Clouds of all different colors swirled around her as she fell, entrancing her. She was caught off guard when she suddenly fell butt-first on the hard ground below.

"Ugh, damned ground," she got out between clenched teeth, her hand reached around to rub her backside.

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and looked up, seeing the boy from yesterday. "You!" She reached into her backpack and grabbed ahold of her grandmother's old knife. "Free them!"

The boy didn't look in her direction. "I don't have them," his voice was quiet.

Clary didn't back down, "Then take me to them."

"You can't. It's too dangerous."

She grinned at the boy. "Things that matter often are.

He gave her an odd look. Suddenly, his pupils dilated and he clutched his chest as though it were close to bursting. The boy's knees buckled and he fell to the ground in a heap. "The Queen...she calls."

He swung an arm out to point a finger at her. "Birch! Hide the mortal. You, _behave_."

Clary gripped her knife harder in her hand. "I'm not a kidnapper! And I don't need to _behave_!"

"_Ehem_!" she heard from somewhere beneath her. She looked down to see an odd creature no taller than a housecat. It wore a strange white hooded cape that covered most of its body, showing only a kind green face. "Follow me, my lady."

"I'm no one's lady. My name is Clary."

The creature started ahead of her, only glancing back to tell her, "This way, No One's Lady Clary. My name is Birch."

Clary followed Birch for quite some time, over rivers and streams, under fallen trees, and through dark forests. "Listen, I need to find some people," she said once the pair reached a bridge overlooking a large field, shadowed in the moonlight, a large breeze rustling the tall grasses. "Do you know where your friend hides his...victims?"

The creature turned to look up at her. "Oh, Jace is not my friend. He's the Queen's new knight. If he took your friends, she probably has them."

"Where exactly is the Queen?"

"At her palace," Birch said matter-of-factly.

Clary fought the urge to roll her eyes at her ignorance.

"In Below's heart."

~.o.0.o.~

Not so far away, in a strange-looking castle, a queen sat on her ornate throne, before her a kneeling knight. "My knight," she said in a voice like honey, "what keeps you away from me?"

"Nothing, my Queen," the knight responded, keeping his head bowed.

"Are you helping the green people again? They are lower forms of life," she tilted her head to the side, tapping two red-manicured fingers against her cheek. "You shouldn't bother."

"Yes, my Queen."

The queen's blood-red lips twisted into a wicked smile. "No...that's not it." She paused, her expression thoughtful. "How delightful..._a secret_...hidden inside you…shining like a pearl."

The knight tensed, still not raising his head to meet her iron gaze. "I hide nothing from you, my Queen."

The queen stood up straighter on her throne. "Not for long at least." Holding out a pale hand, she produced a flurry of purple sparks.

The knight cried out, and a purple light filled the throne room of the palace.

**I hope you all are being safe and responsible out there. Please, leave a review or comment for me, and let me know how you all are doing. I ****genuinely**** want to know what's going on in your lives!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey all, I'm feeling really good about this chapter and I wanted to introduce the queen to you all. She's a complex character with a complex past. She's definitely got a few chips on her shoulder to say the least. I really hope you guys enjoy and stay safe out there ya hooligans! **

Under a velvet, starless sky, Clary came upon a small house nestled into a hill. From the outside, the house looked intimate and cozy. It had been built with oak wood with white stone decorations. Large, octagonal windows along the sides allowed a significant amount of light inside while also allowing privacy to its inhabitants.

Birch came up beside her. "We must fashion you with the proper clothes to meet the Queen, my lady." Clary looked down questioningly at him but didn't protest.

Once inside, she got a better idea of what the house was like. Equipped with a small kitchen and one large bathroom, a cozy living room, three bedrooms, and a modest dining room, the home was just as humble on the inside as it was on the outside.

"My lady, would you like something to eat?" Birch called from the kitchen, although she didn't know how he got there in such a short amount of time. "I'm making squash soup and pumpernickel bread."

At that moment, her stomach seemed very eager to make its presence known. Clary glanced down at her abdomen in embarrassment and nodded.

"Birch?" Clary asked, "I don't mean to sound rude, but what exactly are you?"

The small creature turned his kind face to her while above a large pot of soup. "I'm a greenie, my lady," he grinned, and Clary blanched at the slightly grotesque sharpness of his teeth.

"I have set aside some clothes for you, my lady. There is a bathroom just down the hall where you may change."

She nodded her thanks and headed in the direction of the bathroom. Upon reaching it, she closed the door and leaned against it. _What in the world is going on? One minute I was in the meadow with that boy, and now I'm here in this strange place? _

Standing up from her place on the door, Clary braced her hands on the counter of what resembled a sink and bowed her head. "Calm down," she said to herself, "just stay calm, don't let your thoughts get ahead of you."

After a lot of fiddling with the clothes Birch provided, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror. The emerald tunic matched her eyes to a T, and as she peered closer, she could see tiny little threads of alternating light and dark green on the hem. She reached down to roll the hem of her pants a bit to make them fit better.

The boots were a tad big, but what could you do? Honestly, this outfit was a major upgrade from her standard T-Shirt and shorts combo, and Clary wasn't complaining.

Without a second thought, she turned the doorknob and stepped outside into the dining area. She must've alerted Birch, for he looked up from his work. "Just in time, I just finished preparing our meal."

She watched as he ladled a creamy liquid into two bowls and placed a chunk of bread beside them. "Please, sit," he said, not waiting for her response, and sat down in one of the two chairs at the table.

Apprehensively, Clary let herself fall into the seat and brought a spoonful of the soup to her mouth. Upon passing her lips, the sensation of something warm and spicy hit her taste buds.

"Mmm," she replied around the mouthful. Immediately forgetting her caution, she dug into her meal with a pang of newfound hunger.

"You know," Birch said between sips, "I have a feeling you're the kind who's always wanted to live a great adventure….the kind of adventure that makes people gasp and hope. But this adventure is very different from those you have imagined. _Because lives depend on it_."

_~.o.0.o.~_

On the trek to the Queen's castle, Birch told her the story of this strange land she'd come upon. It reminded her a lot of the stories her grandmother used to read to her when she was younger, and it gave Clary a small zap of nostalgia.

A young girl escaped from her tower up in the clouds to begin her life on the ground. But this girl was not the kind you know from fairytales. This girl was a witch. She was cunning, ruthless, and clever; all these qualities hidden behind a lovely face and sweet temperament.

Escaping from the restraints of her tower, she happened upon a handsome Fae king who was said to enchant wandering maidens by reaching into their hearts with his sweet songs. But this girl would not be fooled. Her heart was ash by the time he happened upon her. She caught his attention and they were wed immediately.

She used her beauty and graces to entrap him in an unbreakable curse. She told him that he must go away every full moon into the forest, and stay there when it was dark. He was only able to come back in the day. It seemed an ordinary request. But there was a catch. The girl used her powers to make it so there was an everlasting night cast upon the kingdom.

She used this trickery to trap the king for the past millennia. Turmoil ensued. The girl, now a kingless queen, used her newfound power to establish a harsh reign and to punish all those unfavorable to her. The kingdom fell into an impoverished time with most of the population being killed and the rest going into hiding for fear of persecution.

Those still alive told the story to future generations in the hopes that someday, someone would be able to reverse the effects of the spell and save the people from the injustices placed upon them.

_~.o.0.o.~_

The castle was a sight to behold. It lay like a soft pearl inside a clam. With its moonlit terraces and imposing spires, it appeared to be stolen right out of a children's storybook. It was perfect. Every stone and piece of moss attached to the walls seemed uniform, a stark contrast to the state of the land surrounding it.

A bridge spanning from the front gates of the castle seemed around the length of a football field. Two life-like statues of guards stood situated on either side of the bridge entrance. Clary almost thought they were real. Maybe there were.

Encased in their stoney grasps were tall flagpoles, the only pop of color against the flat colors of the palace. All this perfection unnerved Clary, and she felt the heavy weight of unease settle itself deep into her stomach.

A cool wind rushed past her, ruffling her curly hair. Now was not the time for Clary to cower in fear, it was not how she was taught. She squared her shoulders and laced her fingers with Birch's.

As they got closer to the castle gates, she spotted a figure she recognized. It was that green-skinned boy. _Jason? Jake? Jac-_

"Jace, how wonderful of you to join us, I was just escorting Clary to the castle. She wants an audience with the queen."

The boy - Jace - gave her a once-over. "You really are persistent." His eyes flashed with pain and Clary realized with a start that he was badly hurt. "Please, just _go home_ already."

Her brows knitted together. "Are you in need of saving too?" Birch looked up at her with surprise.

Jace locked his gaze on her and she got a full view of the damage. His nose seemed badly broken and his right eye was beginning to seal shut from the size of the bruising. His voice was like sandpaper. "You? A scrap of a girl? What good can you do?"

"I'm eighteen!"

"Once you get past these doors, you'll be dead, little girl."

She knew he'd said that to make her reconsider her motives, but that only made her take a step closer to him. "Innocent girls will suffer if I don't."

A pained look crossed the boy's face. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the large wooden doors behind him opening.

Before she could make it past Jace, he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, pulling her close to him. An unreadable emotion swam in his eyes that Clary couldn't pinpoint. "She doesn't care about you, innocent human. This is your last chance to leave."

She instinctively stood up straighter and realized just how tall he was. "The girls are innocent. The green people are also innocent."

"It matters not, she has _enslaved _us all…"

_~.o.0.o.~_

Walking down the hallway, Clary came upon an expansive throne room. Polished braziers hanging from each of the six alabaster columns light up most of the room, and blanket everything in a warm glow.

A lilac rug runs down from the throne for a few meters before coming to an end. Extensive windows are covered with banners the same lilac as the rug. The curtains are adorned with decorated tips and burnished corners.

A single imposing throne of silver sits atop an elevated platform, covered in tangled sculptures and fixed on each of the broad feet is a carved symbolic emblem of three four-pointed stars in a circle. The dense pillows are a dark lilac and these too have been adorned with emblazoned tracery.

Sitting upon the throne is a woman who appears to be not much older than Clary. From what she can make of her. A gauzy lilac veil covers her face, only showing her blood-red lips. The crown resting on her head is a raven black, seeming to suck all the life from the room.

Her body language appears careless, as if she knew that Clary would be coming and expected her. Behind her, Jace and Birch kneeled, and grabbed her hand to pull them down next to her. She side-stepped their advances, and took a step forward instead.

"So _you're _the queen."

She could feel the tension in the room, but didn't seem to care. What she was doing was justice. These girls needed to be saved, and the queen had no right to imprison them. Her grandmother always taught her to treat her superiors with respect, but only if they earned it.

The queen's lips stretched into an insincere smile. "Kneel, child."

"Free the girls."

The queen's smile disappeared. "Kneel!"

"And the green people!"

"KNEEL!" The queen's voice shook the room like an earthquake.

"And Jace!"

The queen stood from her ornate throne and clasped her shaking hands in front of her. Her voice sizzled with barely-controlled rage. "You will kneel before me, child, and be _thankful_ for it."

"If I kneel, will you do what I ask of you?"

"Ha!" the queen barked out a laugh. Clary didn't find it funny in the least. "You put too high a price on your knees touching the ground." She smiled again, but this time seemed more malicious.

"Three boons I will ask of you, child, before the moon changes completely. Fail, and I will eat _you_ with the rest of the girls. Prevail, and I will grant you your three wishes."

"Deal!" Clary responded in a heartbeat, involuntarily taking a step closer to the queen.

The queen smile rivaled that of a fresh blade. "Welcome then, heroine…." she lifted her hands above her head to gesture at the large skylight above her, "to the Castle of Dreams."

**Please review, love you all! **


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